Activision: Tony Hawk: Ride Concept Still 'Very Compelling'

Activision considers the core concept behind last year's Tony Hawk: Ride, which centers around a large skateboard peripheral, to remain "very compelling" despite the game's weaker-than-expected performance, and plans to push ahead with further games that refine the software side of the package. In a conference call today, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith acknowledged that reviews of the Robomodo-developed game "weren't as high as we had hoped last year." The game sold only 114,000 across three platforms in its first calendar month on sale. Griffith explained that "a long hardware development process" left "less time to develop the software," but stressed that Activision believes "the premise of standing on a skateboard" and executing tricks more realistically than with a traditional controller "is very compelling." As the franchise, which took a year off before the release of Ride, returns to its yearly tradition, Griffith said the time spent perfecting the hardware will pay off for the current iteration. "This year, with the hardware complete, we'll be focused on improving the software to unlock the full potential of the board," he said.